The thousand foot summary of the Westin Resort at the Costa Navarino is that it is a great family destination with a stunning beach setting, good food selection and a multitude of activities to keep everyone as busy as they choose.
My husband, eight year old son and I spent six nights at the Westin Resort on the Costa Navarino. The resort is roughly a 3 hour drive (with 45 minutes of rather twisty turny road and 2:15 of perfect high speed freeway) from Athens. The hotel setting is spectacular and I would argue that the beach was the best we saw during our 23 days exploring the country. If comfy beach chairs with umbrellas and restaurant /bar services are high on your priority list then some time here may to your liking. The beaches are spectacular with great sunsets. The restaurants are well served and the food is very nicely done (albeit on the expensive side relative to the rest of Greece). They offer kite boarding, wind surfing, kayaks and a few other water sports for hire and lessons.
The property is very expansive hosting a dozen restaurants. We did experience serious sticker shock at the restaurants after spending our previous 17 days traveling throughout Greece where we became big fans of the harbor side and small town tavernas that offered the best farm/sea to table dinning with great service at ultra-reasonable prices. The Costa Navarino was more of a large resort offering with a variety of regional foods (Italian, Sushi, Moroccan, dinner, Steak, etc) to a bit of a corporate beat. To put it in American perspective the dining would be on par with any great resort that you attend in the Caribbean or Mexico. It is just that we were in Greece, and the local tavernas do such a great job that it is hard to compare the experience to the “go local” experience.
The rooms are nicely appointed with nice towels, linens and beauty products and all have a balcony or a bit of outdoor area off the room. Most everything is walking distance from the rooms although they do offer golf cart shuttles upon request. There are a variety of swimming pools with a couple areas designated as adult only but most of the pools were set up with activities to entertain kids. Beach and deck chairs were usually abundant and unlike some Caribbean experiences we never found that we were competing for pool or beach chairs. So sleep in if you choose and never have to worry about securing a great spot.
Activity wise, this resort has a lot to offer. Starting with at a well-equipped gym, mountain biking, tennis, paddle tennis, squash, golf, numerous water sports and probably another half dozen activities that I never saw. We toured the golf courses and they are definitely of a very high standard with great views. If you are taking sports minded kids they will be thrilled with the recreational options available to them….guaranteed. For younger kids, like my eight year old, the resort has a fantastic kids club as well as three great water slides and a water park that would entertain toddlers to ten year olds. Of all the places we went in Greece, my son liked this resort the most. His head hit the pillow hard every night and he woke up excited to do another 80 loops on the water slide and get his fingers into some painting or kids games.
If you are with older children or adults only you may want to check in to Romanos Resort which is also on the property. It has a couple adult only restaurants dedicated to their resort as well as access to the other 10 restaurants on the property. I did take the opportunity to view some of these rooms during my visit and would strongly recommend the Romanos if you are not traveling with kids.
Near the resort there are a couple cute little towns for day trips as well as some local archaeological sites (although we never took them in) so getting off the property for a day makes for a good adventure. There is a local state park that hosts the Gialova Lagoon which is a 15 minute drive to a very picturesque and sheltered beach. It was a great place to splash around in the water for a few hours with predominantly local/Greek tourists.
In summary a great family destination for families wanting to be active. And if you are a beach aficionado wanting to not fight a crowd for real estate you are in the right neighborhood.